TAYLOR, MI —

Masco Corp., kitchen and bath cabinetry manufacturer, reported that net sales from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2010, decreased 3 percent to $7.6 billion.

"In many ways 2010 was a tale of two halves," said CEO Tim Wadhams. "We came out of 2009 with good momentum and our sales in the first half of 2010 were up two percent. As the year progressed, the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, increasing commodity costs and the competitive environment made the second half of 2010 much more challenging.

"Our installation and cabinet businesses, which are tied to new home construction and ‘big ticket’ repair and remodel activity were particularly hard hit,” said Wadhams.

While acknowledging Masco’s difficult environment with sales down 3 percent, Wadhams also noted that full-year adjusted gross margins (26.4 percent) and operating profit (5.7 percent) were even with 2009, even as sales fell.

Masco was lauded for continuous improvement efforts in its Ohio cabinet manufacturing operations, with implementation of over 16,000 improvement ideas; an average of 8.1 improvement ideas per associate; execution of over 520 Kaizen events to address concerns, production issues and other improvement opportunities;and completion of over 30 Six Sigma projects to address complex, cross-functional and high impact improvement opportunities.